Hair Replacement surgery is indicated in correcting hair loss in both men and women. Individuals who have a history in the family related with baldness, aging, and change in hormones are the common causes of hair loss.

Some types of medications, trauma and burns may also cause loss of hair. There are multiple methods for hair replacement surgery involved.

Hair Transplants Techniques

Hair transplant techniques which use drafts are the most common and may take quite some time to complete, up to 2 years. Tissue-expansion, scalp-reduction and flaps procedures are a bit more extensive; however they result in significant changes in a shorter time. In hair replacement surgery, pieces of small hair-bearing scalp grafts are used from the donor’s site and are then relocated into a bald region or thinning. There are 5 different types of grafts depending on their shape and size: mini-graft (2 to 4 hairs); punch grafts (10 to 15 hairs); strip grafts (30 to 40 hairs); slit grafts (4to 10 hairs); and micro-graft (1 to 2 hair). The smaller the number of hair in the graft, the more natural of a look it produces.

In a tissue expansion procedure, a device which is balloon type is placed under the hair-bearing scalp and the device is inflated gradually along with salt water for a period of weeks. Gradual expansion is therefore allowed of the skin as well as new skin cell growth. The expanded skin is used during another procedure in order to cover the bald area.

Scalp reduction procedure is indicated to cover the bald areas at the back of the head and the top of the head. In this surgery, a segment of bald scalp is removed under local anesthesia. The hair bearing skin surrounding the cut-out region is then loosened and pulled together to close the defect. To achieve the best results, a combination of tissue expansion with scalp reduction and flap surgery may be performed.

Flap surgery is a type of procedure which is used to cover large regions of baldness quickly. After cutting out a portion of the bald scalp, a flap of the hair-bearing section of the scalp is lifted of the surface while attached on one of the ends and then put into a new position, as well as sewn in place. The end of the flap that is attached supplies the blood supply to the new location/area.

Hair Replacement surgery is usually done in an outpatient procedure center, in a physician office, or in a hospital. This surgery is usually performed by using local anesthesia. In some cases (as flaps, scalp reduction or tissue expansion), general anesthesia may be required.